Sewing machine lubrication



Sept. 11, 1956 G. sAuER SEWING MACHINE LUBRICATION Original Filed April 18, 1951 JNVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Divided and this application July 18-, 1952, Serial No. 299,534.

V 2 Claims. (Cl. 184-6) This invention relates to sewing machines having relatively' moving parts requiring lubrication and more pain ticularly to lubricant control means for providing free how of lubricant to the bearings and other machine elements. requiring. lubrication. The present invention is a division of my pending application Serial No. 221,562, filed April. 18, 1951.

The principal object of the invention is to provide novel and improved means for lubricating relatively moving parts of a sewing machine.

More particularly, it is an object of the invention to provide effective lubrication for the operating parts in a sewing machine in which the lubricant reservoir is disposed above the parts to be lubricated such as in a sewing machine positioned for the closing of filled bags andin which the main drive shaft is vertically disposed.

A feature of the invention is the provision of lubricant control means which permits the free flow of oil or other lubricant" to the bearings of'the sewing machine when it is operating and which automatically stops such flow when the operation of the sewing machine ceases.

The invention is particularly adapted for providing lubrication of the work feeding mechanism and other operating parts of a sewing machine positioned for the closing of filled bags. The invention will therefore be described in connection with such a machine. It should be understood, however, that the invention is also applicable to other types'of sewing machines having similar lubrication requirements, i. e., that lubricant be supplied to relatively moving parts by gravitational flow or the like while the machine is operating and that the flow of lubricant be stopped when the machine is not operating.

Other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will appear from the detailed description of an illustrative embodiment of the same which will now be given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, int which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a machine embodying the invention, the. longitudinal. axis of the main drive shaft of the machine being disposed vertically and certain par tsbeing brokenaway for clarity of illustration of other parts;

Fig. 2 is'a. fragmentaryview, in vertical section-,of the oil reservoir embodying the means, according to the invention, for checking the flow of oil when the machine is not in use; and

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view through the reservoir, taken along the line 33 of Fig. 2.

In Fig. 1 of the drawings, the machine has been illustrated in the conventional position assumed for the sewing of filled bags. It will be understood that when the machine is used for the closing of filled bags its position will be such that the work-supporting surface will be disposed in a vertical plane, i. e., the base and the overhanging arm will have their longitudinal axes disposed vertically and the driving pulley will be at the top as shown in Fig. 1. The machine will be supported position.

2,762,454 Patented Sept. 11, 1956 2 by a pedestal or the like in substantially. the same posi-v tion as that shown in the patent to Kucera et al. No. 1,577,472, granted March 23,. 1926.

The frame of the machine comprises a base 1 from the upper end of which projects a standard 2. An overhanging arm 3 projects downwardly from the outer end of the standard and terminates in a needle head- 4; A main drive shaft extends longitudinally through the base and is journaled in suitable bearings therein. To facilitate assembly the shaft is formed in two sections 5 and 5a (Fig. 1) which are joined by a coupling 5b was to provide in effect a single continuous shaft. At its upper end the shaft extends through the frame and projects therefrom, the projecting end carrying acombined handwheel and pulley 6 through which power for operating the machine may be applied from/any suitable source. The shaft has a crank within the standard which drives a needle bar 11- in the needle head 4' through connections of the character disclosed in the cop'ending' application of Oscar Quist, Serial No. 211,457, filed February 17, 1951, now Patent No. 2,636,463, granted April 28, 1953'.- The needle bar 11 carries a needle at its outer end: which is reciprocated through the work be tween successive feeding movements of the latter along the work supporting surface 15. At the lower end of the work supporting surface, as shown in Fig. 1-, there is a throat plate 16 provided with slots through which the feed dog 17 operates to feed the work that is being. sewn. The material being sewn, such as a filled bag, is held against the throat plate by means of a presser foot fastened to a presser bar 19 mounted in suitable hearings in the needle head 4. Suitable means of con ventional character (not shown) are provided for lifting the presser bar for the introduction or removal of work.

The work feeding mechanism includes the feed dog 17 which is supported and given four movements, that is, it is shifted into engagement with the material, then moved forwardly for'feeding the material, then moved away from the material and then returned to its initial Feed and return movements are impartedto the feed dog by a feed bar 23 in the manner disclosed in said Quist patent. As shown, the feed bar is of the offset type adapted to support the feed dog to act along a line below the feed rocker to be described. This enables formation 0f-theframe in a way to facilitate move ment offille'dba'gs.

The feed bar 23 is fastened to a shaft 39 which is rock-ably supported by a feed rocker 42. This feed rocker is fastened to a shaft 45' and is given rocking movements by a feed'stroke eccentric carried by the shaft 5a acting through a it-man 41 in the manner disclosed in said Quist patent. p

A bracketarm 24 secured to the feed bar 23' is' can necte'd by? a pitrnan 66 with an eccentric- 67 which is carried by the main shaft, thereby s'er'viiig to rock the feed bar about its pivot 39 to carry the feed dog 17 into and out of engagement with the work. Thus the feed dog is given the desired four motion movement to engage the work and advance it and then return to its initial position.

Beneath the work support is a four motion looper 46 which coacts with the needle in the formation of stitches. The looper is mounted on the outer end of a looper carrier 47 and is operated by connections from the shaft 5a by connections of the character shown in said Quist patent.

In accordance with the invention means are provided for controlling the flow of lubricating oil to the work feeding mechanism and other parts when the machine is in the position shown in Fig. 1, i. e., in which the machine is used for closing filled bags. When so positioned the oil for lubricating the work feeding devices and other parts ofthe machine is fed from a reservoir 53 through various tubes 53a. The reservoir 53 is carried by the standard 2 of the frame near the basethereof and is thus near the top of the machine when positioned as shown for bag closing purposes. 'One of the tubes 53:: maygfor example, extend to a pocket 53b from which the lubricant may be supplied through wicking 68 in a bore 68a to a bearing requiring lubrication.

When the machine is stopped, the oil remaining in the reservoir would naturally continue to feed to the various parts until the reservoir is empty. lln order to avoid that result, a check valve is provided in the reservoir, this valve consisting of a ball 55 positioned within a cage 56 which is fastened to the bottom wall of. the reservoir, the cage consisting of two U-shaped wires the planes of which are preferably disposed at 90 in relation to each other. The cage is so positioned that when the machine is not in operation the ball will rest in the opening of a passagein said orifice when said machine is idle and thereby closing it and being shifted off the center of said orifice by the vibrations of said machine when said machine is in operation thereby opening said orifice to permit oil to pass from said supply into said manifold chamber, a cage fixed to said bottom wall and positioned around said ball limiting the extent of movement of said ball in response to said vibrations, va duct connecting with said manifold chamber and having an opening into said chamber directly beneath said passageway so that lubricant is delivered directly to said duct upon the unseating of said ball, said duct being arranged to deliver lubricant promptly to certain surfaces within said machine requiring lubrication, and other'ducts connecting with said manifold chamber leading to other parts of said machine-to be lubricated, said other ducts having openings into said chamber spaced away from said opening of said first mentioned duct.

way 57 extending from the reservoir to a manifold 5-8 2. In a sewing machine having a frame with a base portion, a standard extending laterally from said base portion and an overhanging arm extending from the outer end of said standard in a direction parallel with the base portion, a shaft journaled in bearings in the frame, work feeding and stitch forming devices carried by said frame, conhow of oil through the passageway. This is desirable to crating, the ball will seat itself again in the opening to the passageway and thereby the flow of oil from the reservoir will be automatically stopped. The ball is preferably formed of steel or other metal and in any event is substantially heavier than or of greater mass than the oil which it displaces.

While the invention has been disclosed in a particular form of embodiment, it will be understood that the construction and the arrangement of the parts, as well as the type of sewing machine to which the lubricating system of the invention is applied, may be varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

, What is claimed is:

1. In a sewing machine having a frame and 'a vertically disposed main shaft journaled for rotation in hearings in said frame, the combination of reciprocatory members driven by said shaft setting up vibrations in said frame when said machine is operating, a reservoir carried by said frame for maintaining a supply of lubricating oil, said reservoir comprising side walls and a. bottom wall having a flat horizontally disposed upper surface, a manifold chamber beneath said reservoir for distributing oil from said supply, said bottom wall forming a partition between said oil reservoir and manifold chamber, a passageway having a circular cross section extending through said partitioning bottom wall providing an orifice for the passage of oil from said reservoir into said manifold chamber, a ball serving as a valve centering and seating itself nections from said shaft for driving said devices, said devices including reciprocatory parts tending to set-up vibrations in said frame when said machine is operating, means for supplying lubricant to said devices and connections during operation of the machine which comprises a lubricant reservoir secured to the standard of the frame, said reservoir having a bottom wall with a flat horizontally disposed inner surface, a manifold chamber extending horizontally beneath said bottom wall of the reservoir, a passageway of circular cross-section extending through said bottom wall and arranged to deliver lubricant from said reservoir to said manifold chamber, a ball within said reservoir normally seated upon the top of said passageway to close the same but arranged to be displaced therefrom upon the vibration of the frame, a cage carried by said bottom wall and positioned over said ball to limit the extent of displacement thereof, and a plurality of ducts extending downwardly from said manifold chamber at spaced points thereof and arranged to deliver lubricant to said devices and connections, one of said ducts having its inlet end opening into said chamber directly beneath said passageway so that lubricant is delivered directly to said duct upon the unseating of said ball for prompt delivery of lubricant to certain portions of said devices and connections.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

